bubble dreams
by xfucktheglasses
Summary: Sit with me; stay a while. —SasuSaku.


Written for the first SasuSaku_Month. Also one of my favorites.

**bubble dreams**

It was summer and Sasuke hated it.

Scorching summer.

Summer with the sun high up in the sky and heating everything in its path. That's the kind of summer it was in Oto; it was scorching and hot and fucking annoying. Sasuke hated summer; he very much preferred autumn and winter. Winter, the best, because he liked the rain and he liked the thunder and he liked the hail.

But it was fucking summer and it was like death.

Sasuke sat on his driveway, legs bent at the knees and arms resting over them. He watched his idiot friends played street hockey with a bored expression; normally, Sasuke'd be right out there playing, as well. But he'd be fucking damned before he played under the fucking sun. It'd be like some sort of suicide; like the Chinese Torture Methods but with the sun, instead.

Sasuke wasn't up to that crap.

So he sat back on his driveway, alcohol disguised as coke with ice, near him and watched. And spaced out, every now and then. But Kiba'd already tried to get the puck to hit him in the face thrice, so Sasuke had to stay alert the entire time. Not to mention that he caught Suigetsu smirking at his fucking sister at least five times, already.

God, he hated his friends.

And the sun.

And _summer_.

So Sasuke sat in the middle of his driveway and hated and brooded on just about everything, drinking his disguised alcohol and taking out a cig, but not lighting it up. A soft smirk appeared on his lips when stupid Naruto skidded to the floor and crashed onto Suigetsu, both effectively hitting the 'goal tent' (tin garbage can).

"Who's winning?"

Sasuke had the audacity to blink in utter confusion. Slowly, he turned to face who had spoken to him and a girl he'd never seen before sitting next to him. She was a short little pixie dressed in a gray, flower printed summer dress and moccasins. She had a silver chain around her neck and a single red feather hanging off it that she seemed to be very into fingering, and silver studs on her ears that, due to her short pink hair, stood out.

He'd never seen her in his life, Sasuke repeated to himself.

At his quietness, she turned to face him, green eyes rimmed with black liner and a pale, thin brow raised in question. "Hello?"

"What," Sasuke asked, still confused.

In the middle of the streets, his friends still played street hockey, and his sister and her friend still sat at the curve.

"I asked who's winning," she said, her small lips twisting into a smile.

Sasuke furrowed his brow, slowly raising his hand up to his ear and tucking his cig over the top. He stared at her, for a moment, and then said, "…Who the hell are you?"

She tilted her head to the side, bangs falling over her eyes and she laughed, lightly. "I'm Sakura! Are you going to tell me who's winning now?"

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Sasuke nudged his chin. "The blond moron and the dog."

"Ohh," she nodded her head, "they look like a team that'd win."

Sasuke raised a brow. "You know about hockey?"

"Nope! It's just that they're both kind of big; blond one less than the other one. They definitely knew what they were thinking when they paired up."

"It's street hockey."

"Mmm, but a game is a game, so says mankind."

Sasuke paused. "Wait, who are you, again?"

"Sakura," she said, turning to face him, again. "I'm on vacation. Do you guys play out, often?"

"Hn."

"Do _you_ play with them?"

"Hn."

She tilted her head, again, hugging her legs close to her chest and making sure her dress revealed nothing. "Your grunts are monosyllabic."

"_Hn_."

She laughed, softly. And Sasuke hoped Karin didn't turn or hear or anything; actually, he hoped none of them noticed this girl sitting next to him in the middle of a scorching summer day. Sasuke sighed, and brought his drink to his lips, and said nothing more.

.

.

.

"Wow, it's really hot here, in Oto, huh?"

Sasuke was sitting on his driveway, again, this time with a lit cig in between his lips and his hands busy at fixing an already complete homemade-go kart. He was fixing some screws; tightening them up; making sure everything was alright and good and ready and everything. He looked up, through his lashes and his bangs, at her and raised a brow.

"What," he muffled through barely parted lips.

She shrugged, hands clasped behind her. She was clad in a loose tank top tucked into high-waisted shorts and the same moccasins and the same feather-chain around her neck. Her short hair, barely reaching the mid of her pale neck, fluttered with the steps she took to go up his driveway.

Sasuke stared at her and raised a brow.

"Konoha's hot," she said, "…But Oto's kind of crazy." Her green eyes fell on the go kart and she grinned. "Oh! You drive these?"

"No." Sasuke pulled his cig out of his lips and tapped at it once, accumulated ashes falling to the ground. "My sister does; or did. Both."

"Aw, you're so sweet!" Sakura crouched down next to him and admired the go kart. "So what's your name?"

Sasuke blinked, again, bringing the cigarette back to his lips. He didn't say anything and just stared, for another while, twirling the wrench in between his fingers.

Sakura reached over and pulled the cig out of his lips and brought it to hers. "I asked your name, you know."

And his eyes watched as she inhaled the nicotine and held it in for a second before she let it out through the side of her lips. Sasuke'd be damned if he admitted he was fascinated.

"Sasuke," he finally grunted.

Sakura smiled and took another drag of the cigarette, before taking it out from in between her lips and slipping it into his. She grinned at him, giving him a wink and patting at his knee. "See, that wasn't so hard, now, was it, Sasuke?" She dropped onto her bottom and hugged her knees close to her chest. "So, what do you like, Sasuke? Hockey and go karts and cigarettes and rum and coke. Anything else?"

What a weird girl, Sasuke mused.

"Baseball, football, video games and sleep."

"Oh, the typical male!" She laughed. "Do you read?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes." She winked at him, again. "What do you read?"

He shrugged. He figured they were playing twenty one questions.

"Do you like Harry Potter," she asked, a glint in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

Sasuke shrugged, again. "Read it; pretty indifferent. Like it better than the vampire shit."

"Oh, vampires are _so_ cliché," Sakura scoffed, waving a hand in the air. Her bangles jingled and twingled against each other. "I prefer mermaids; they're evil, you know. Not the sissies people make them out to be."

"Someone's watched too much Pirates of the Caribbean."

"I also _read_," Sakura said, grinning at him.

Sasuke shrugged and went back to work on Karin's go kart after dropping the remnants of his cigarette. Sakura sat next to him and buzzed around his ears with her conversations and her questions and laugh.

.

.

.

Two days later, Sasuke sat in the middle of his front lawn, watching his idiot friends play another round of street hockey, and not at all minding the sprinklers sprinkling him with water. Karin was at the mall with her friends and everything was rather calming, Sasuke decided, fingering the cigarette resting over his ear.

It was still scorching out – scorching summers in Oto; Sasuke should be used to this since birth, but, oh, how he hated summer.

He shook his head, mildly, as the sprinklers rotated and sprinkled at him. His shirt stuck to his chest and the grit and oil on his fingers and under his nails slowly began to roll off.

Someone plopped down next to him with a small sigh of contentment.

Sasuke didn't really turn to look who it was; Sakura had made it a habit to keep him company while he sat at the sidelines.

"Will I ever see _you_ play," she asked, teasingly, nudging her chin to his four moronic friends. She was smiling and she looked good in shorts and a t-shirt, Sasuke caught himself musing.

"No," he murmured. "Not in the summer."

He heard her pout as she said, "But I'm only here for this summer!"

Sasuke shrugged a shoulder, a mild smirk on his lips.

Sakura sighed dejectedly before thrusting something at him and asking, "Want some?"

Sasuke looked down at what she was offering him and wrinkled his nose. Sasuke hated sweets just as much as he hated the sun and summer. "I don't like sweets."

"You don't like _Nutella_," she asked incredulous and almost offended. "What's _wrong_ with you?"

Sasuke blinked. "What's wrong with _you_?"

"You don't like Nutella," she hissed at him, still offended.

Sasuke scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Which means," she went on, "that you've never tried a Nutella and peanut butter sandwich. Or a Nutella donut. Or… _Nothing_! I might just start crying for your poor, unfortunate soul."

The sky was rather blue and the clouds were almost nonexistent; the sun was up high and glaring down at them. His friends were playing hockey in the streets and Sasuke was sitting on his front lawn, getting sprinkled by the sprinklers and listening to a girl he just met rant about the lack of chocolate in his system.

It made Sasuke… blink and wonder what the fuck was going on with his life.

"Anyway," she murmured, "I'm leaving Wednesday morning."

Sasuke turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

Sakura nodded. "We're going to Iwa to visit my mother's sister."

Sasuke swallowed and nodded, bringing his cigarette down from hovering over his ear and to his lips. He lit it and, surprisingly, offered her a drag. Sakura smiled and took the cig in her hand.

.

.

.

The night before she left, Sasuke found himself standing in the middle of the street, hands in his pockets and staring at nothing in particular.

The trash bins were still positioned on the ground to take in goals and he was positive that that'd be the nth puck Suigetsu'd lose, if he didn't go grab it. There was an unlit cig in between his lips and Sasuke declared himself insane.

Sakura, much like always, crept up on him, smiling and fingering her feather chain and wearing a t-shirt too big for her and tiny shorts underneath them and those moccasins of hers. She laughed when he stared at her, almost annoyed, and playfully punched at his arm. "Hey!"

"Hn."

"I didn't think you'd be out here," she said, clasping her hands behind her.

Sasuke looked up at his house for a second before sparing her a glance and then lowering his eyes. "It's hot, in my house."

"It's always hot, here," Sakura said, in a sigh. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet before skipping up to his driveway and plopping down right in the middle of it. She patted the spot next to her and smiled, at him.

Sasuke found himself at a loss and couldn't help but just walk up and sit down next to her, legs bent at the knees and arms resting over them. The sky was as clear as could be; stars could be seen, even with the streetlights' interception. Sasuke vaguely entertained the thought that he just saw Mars twinkle.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Sakura commented, in a drawl. "Ugh, being cooped up in a car, _again_."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Why're you going around the country?"

Sakura blinked and looked at him, taking the unlit cig from his lips and holding it, carefully, in her hands. "Sometimes, I don't know; family time, I guess. My parents have a weird relationship. This is us trying to bond."

He raised his brows and said nothing.

"It was fun, you know," she mumbled, after a long silence.

Sasuke stared at Kiba's front lawn, straight across from his, and counted the blades of grass as best as he could.

"Just sitting here, with you," she shrugged, "and just… It was so plain but so… amazing." She grinned and turned to him. "Thanks."

Sasuke turned to look at her, for a second, his eyes meeting hers. He granted her a half-hearted, crooked grin.

"I want to kiss you," she confessed, boldly. She was smiling and sitting next to him – a short little pixie with pink hair and green eyes. "But… I don't want to miss you more than I think I already am."

Sasuke licked at his lower lip and looked back to Kiba's front lawn. He felt her scoot closer to him, shoulder-to-shoulder, hip-to-hip. They sat there for a while, in complete silence, before just lying back and counting each time the stars twinkled.


End file.
